Staples farms out smart home software to Z-Wave Products

Staples’ home automation system, “Connect”, is being passed from the office supply chain store to Z-Wave Products in light of “changing market dynamics and a focus on more business-oriented solutions.”

The Connect system currently incorporates approximately 150 devices spanning over 30 brand titles, with these devices able to control and manage everything from security to lighting in a smart home.

Launched in 2013, the hub had been available in all 550 Staples stores at one time, but rumours began to do the rounds earlier this year after it was removed from the shelves.

In April, the company said it would be releasing a statement about Connect’s future in the coming weeks and now – some four months on – it appears the retailer has decided to move Connect on.

While the exact terms of the deal remain unknown, Connect customers will now be provided with services from Z-Wave products through a hotline and a website.

Kevin Garton, the chief marketing officer at Zonoff, Z-Wave still believes in the Connect product and is “very interested in continuing to grow and evolve the platform”.

In face of an increasingly competitive market where smart home exits like Revolv are commonplace, Garton says he aims to adopt an “evolving business models” in the face of bigger names entering the market such as Amazon’s Echo, Google Home and the continued growth of Nest (also owned by Google).

The hope is to update the Connect systems and the phone application (which controls and monitors the overall platform) in order to refresh the product and ensure reverse operation.

Whether this will keep the Connect system alive in today’s market is unknown but Staples did at least choose not to kill the product.

By Oliver Baxandall

Taking place on 18th & 19th of October, The Internet of Retail is exploring the digital transformation of retail through the use of connected devices.

From Beacons to RFID, discover the business application of new IoT technologies through real life case studies from studies from like likes of Coca-Cola, John Lewis, Adidas and more.